Act III: Scene I and II
MATHAN.Young daughters, go, and say to JosabetThat Mathan waits to speak to her in private.
One of the daughters of the Choir.Mathan! O God of heaven do thou confound him.
NABAL.How now? all flee, disperse without reply!
MATHAN.Let us approach.
ZACHARIAH.Audacious! Whither would you go? ForbearBeyond this place to make advance: it isThe holy minister's divine abode.To all profane the law forbids the entrance.Of whom are you in search? My mother shuns,Upon this solemn day, the guilty sightOf foul idolatry; and prostrate nowBefore the Lord, would shrink from being disturbed.
MATHAN.My son, her time is ours; be not alarmed;I wish to speak to your illustrious mother.I come here charged with orders from the queen.
Words in this poem
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act III: Scene I and II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Athaliah: A Tragedy, Project Gutenberg ebook #21967, the J. Donkersley translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jean Racine, Act III: Scene I and II, in Athaliah: A Tragedy (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21967, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/racine-athaliah/act-iii-scene-i-and-ii.html, id L26964.
Form and metre
Act III: Scene I and II is 22 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 6 A--A mathanA · alarmed · mother · queenA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| MATHAN. | 2 | /˘ |
| Young daughters, go, and say to Josabet | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That Mathan waits to speak to her in private. | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| One of the daughters of the Choir. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Mathan! O God of heaven do thou confound him. | 11 | /˘···/··/·· |
| NABAL. | 2 | ·· |
| How now? all flee, disperse without reply! | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| MATHAN. | 2 | /˘ |
| Let us approach. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| ZACHARIAH. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Audacious! Whither would you go? Forbear | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Beyond this place to make advance: it is | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| The holy minister's divine abode. | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘/ |
| To all profane the law forbids the entrance. | 11 | ··˘/··˘/·/˘ |
| Of whom are you in search? My mother shuns, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Upon this solemn day, the guilty sight | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Of foul idolatry; and prostrate now | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Before the Lord, would shrink from being disturbed. | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| MATHAN. | 2 | /˘ |
| My son, her time is ours; be not alarmed; | 10 | ·····/··˘/ |
| I wish to speak to your illustrious mother. | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| I come here charged with orders from the queen. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.